On a misty, moonless night, along twisted cobblestone lanes illuminated only by the glow of ancient iron lanterns, you follow a scent as dark as the night itself, the exotic fragrance hauntingly familiar, compelling, irresistible. Open the tin. Discover the mystery.

Notes: From GL Pease: Gaslight is a rich Latakia mixture, structured with layers of mature red virginias and spiced with orientals. It's pressed and aged in cakes, then cut into one ounce bars of about 1" x 1" x 2".

In the same way a good hearty red wine was often said to be sunshine in a bottle Gaslight is sunshine in a plug. It tastes vibrant swirling smoothly between citric sour, muted sweet, even more muted bitter and back but deep, soft and smooth, a difficult trick to pull in itself. Definitely guaranteed to drive the winter blues away which is very timely as the night frosts have started here on the English East coast and the days are worse - short, grey and depressing.

Enough of the weather - Gaslight's specifications are more interesting. Tin note is not that marked but pleasant enough - mainly the usual suspects for a latakia blend of creosote, soap, leather but with a hint of rose (just like a lovely climber my late Aunt had but I have forgotten the name). The tobacco comes as two plugs per 2 ounce (57 gram) tins, is quite soft by traditional standards and so is fairly easy to cut to slices (flakes for UK readers) but best with a sharpish blade to avoid crumbling although a bit of early crumble is not too much of a problem anyway. Cutting needs to be across the grain to get the right mix in each pipe but rubbing out the flake is simplicity itself. Say two minutes per plug.

The first pipe does start a bit latakia heavy but evens out over three or four puffs and then its balanced taste all the way (and with subsequent pipes) with changes merging into one another. There are suggestions of essence of orange (liqueur or fine homemade marmalade perhaps), bread, soft muted creosote, coffee, occasionally dark chocolate. More mysteriously there is hints of a taste that I had not thought of for years that I associate with Balkan Sobranie but I could never quite place what it was in the 70s or now. Very cool and slow smoking - about the slowest latakia mixture I have come across in 35 years the nearest being one of the mixtures Dunhill did for JB Priestly but that was stronger and less ebullient in taste. In spite of all this intensity Lady Nicotine is manifest in medium strength so I would guess its in pretty much every smokers "Goldilocks zone" taking into account appropriate deployment of small and large pipes. All in all very tasty indeed! How is all this achieved? I could only guess but if you want to know ask Greg - after all he takes questions in an excellent column in pipes magazine each month (link on GLP's website).

In summary sunshine in a pipe, puts one in mind of Van Gogh's Arles paintings, perfect for winter and who knows about the other seasons at the moment but I would expect it to be at least a sundowner in the hottest summer and probably far more. Recommendation - need you ask? I just hope fellow pipesmokers do not overwhelm the logistics chain by cellaring too much too soon (I must confess to 15 tins so far) as it has all the signs of a brilliant keeper, it is the right type and the tobacco is very fine even by GLP's exalted standards.

As advertised this is indeed a rich Latakia cake blend. It has a wow factor. This is not a Latakia dumping ground, but you must like full English to like this "bad boy".

It comes in two bars in a tin, and though you must use a sharp knife to slice the segments, they crumble pretty easy after that (again added by some more small cube cuts). So not as tight or dense as many plugs. More of a "krumble plug."

I mainly taste the Latakia, but it has some extra spice at times (turkish) and definitly that red Virginia (almost cinnamon-like)shows up now and again, depending on how well you mix the cuttings.

I think the Latakia may show up stronger if you don't puff slowly or don't mix the cuttings well for your bowl. Not hard to do.

It is slow burning. I've spend over two weeks smoking small bowls (usually once a day) say like a group 3 size. 35-40+ minutes easy. I have about two bowls left (and a few more tins of it to age or to try next at Christmas, 2013). Yes, I want more. Definitely cool.

It does not compare too much to me to Penzance in flavor (a true crumble cake), which that has more of a Turkist content, but it does compare to it in terms of excellence.

So this is not as poetic as some other reviews because it so good that I don't have to be poetic. I think you see I enjoy Gaslight for what it is. A rich Latakia blend. It does make me want to walk the steets at night (or around a castle if I had one nearby) and blow its scent into the air. But I dare not as my smoldering prize will be abducted by those enchanted by its aroma.

Now I've been to two church socials and a county fair, but I have never encountered a tobacco like Gaslight. When I lit up my first bowl, I wondered whether someone hadn't been storing potpourri in my meerschaum earlier in the week. That's how intensely fragrant Gaslight is. This I attribute to the Orientals, but the Orientals alone wouldn't account for the sheer intensity of flavor you encounter. It is as though Mr. Pease has devised a way to fuse together the spice and herbaciousness of Oriental varieties with the leather and tar of the Latakia, producing some spookily concentrated hybrid wholly unlike its constituent parts. While there's nothing overbearing here (the nicotine is moderate, the burn is even, and the virginias serve to temper and balance the mixture), the experience demands something like total concentration, like an organ concert in surround sound. In the tin, the two bars look at first small and unprepossessing, like a Jenny Craig dessert, albeit a bewitchingly perfumed one. Once you smoke Gaslight, however, those ingots take on a mysterious quality, as though someone informed you on good authority that they'd been quarried out of a black hole. If some tobaccos are all-day tobaccos and some are early-morning or after-dinner smokes, then Gaslight is a hold-my-calls, forward-my-mail, look-after-my-kids I'll-call-you-from-the-other- end-of-the-wormhole mixture. Did I mention that it is wonderful? Because man oh man it is.

2 dark colored brownies pressed together but not so tightly as to be difficult to slice. Tin nose is latakia and some underlying spice that is probably the orientals. Having first screwed up another of Greg's plugs, I was extra careful to slice this against the grain before rubbing and loading. This plug is very easy to work with but a sharp knife is best.

This blend might be referred to as a Latakia Plus blend in that the latakia stayed with me first and foremost and there was never a doubt in my mind that latakia was supposed to be the primary focus. But the flavor shifts subtly and often, away from the typical latakia bombs. This doesn't taste how I recall Abingdon tasting, but it has all the complexity attributes of that earlier GLP blend. Just when it's settling into a groove, it alters suddenly and noticeably, but not jarringly. Flavor runs the usual gamut that latakia blends run but also into dashes of light fruit, coffee, and a hint of dark chocolate. Greg definitely knows how to retain interest and he seems to get the most out of "latakia, Virginia and orientals", as his blends containing those components all taste different and have varying levels of complexity. This one was complex but was never pushy. And the room aroma? Absolute nirvana!

As is my custom, I experimented with Gaslight by breaking off a chunk in my fingers and loading without slicing properly. All I can say is, don't do it. The blend becomes severely unfocused and "dirty" tasting. There's a reason it's in cake form and I found that the expert opinion on how to smoke this was, not surprisingly, the correct one. Overall, this is not my favorite GLP blend but it's worthy of a cellar restock, as it's definitely a winner!

This starts with a flavorful blast of Latakia, then fades into a burley forward smoke ( I realize that Burley is not listed, but it sure tastes that way to me). There is some sweetness that continues throughout the bowl, however, my tongue, just doesn't get along with the burley or the burley like properties. I find this blend boring but not of low quality. I think it reminds me of "Jackknife Plug" with an addition of Latakia. Overall , a somewhat old fashioned smoke.

I realize that my review will be greeted with much negativity, but I hope someone will explain what I'm doing wrong while smoking this blend.

A very smokey, woodsy latakia-forward plug that’s easily broken up as you choose. The red Virginias are tangy sweet with some earthiness, and minor dark fruit notes. I get hints of cocoa from something here, and I’m not sure what causes it based on the tin description. The Oriental/Turkish offers a nice spice hit from start to finish. It’s not your typical lat-bomb because the other components add enough complexity to keep this from being one dimensional. It’s also smoother and creamier than your average lat-bomb, too. Slow burning, and with a slight dry time, will leave very little dottle.

Plug tobacco is a throwback to a time before cappuccinos, before tv, before automobiles even. It was economy of space, easy to stash in a saddle or footlocker. When you earned a rest, you got to work with your hands and tools but this time for your own benefit, so you savored the ritual. I love plugs for the connection to my hard working ancestors who would scoff at ready rubbed flakes as frivolous. The deliberation of preparation is part and parcel of the experience.

I know why it's moist: anaerobic fermentation. The side benefit is that it still goes on in an opened tin. That said, three months in an open tin only improved it, in my opinion. The quiet time spent drying the spread out leaves is not a burden.

Light this with a match, please. Or a flaming twig.

Latakia is the first impression, followed by turkish and oriental. Finally the quartet with the virginias commence and all is right with the world and you are glad you smoke a pipe.

Slow, reflective puffing develops the richness of this blend. A moderately sized bowl is sufficient for an hour of the best pipe of the day. Nicotine cravers will be sated and those of us who are easily affected will find that the pleasure resumes when it is relit later.

There is a regular place for this in my rotation, and I look forward to it every time. Stock up- you won't regret it. This blend is for aging as well as present enjoyment. Many latakia blends don't improve with age; I don't doubt this one will.

At least one of the reviews for this seems--ahem--loaded to me. Which is strange, because G.L. Pease is one of the most popular blenders out there and you wouldn't think he'd need any extra help.

That being said, I like this Gaslight stuff. Pease, like most modern pipe tobacco companies, has thousands of blends, with new ones created every week, it seems. For example, C & D (which manufactures this for Pease) recently released their one-millionth blend. It's called Seriously, Guys, This One Tastes Different!

Ok, I'm teasing a bit, but how do these companies keep all their hundreds of offerings straight?

The reason these guys constantly invent new blends is because they know we'll buy them. The modern piper likes trying new tobaccos even more than he does smoking his favorite tobaccos. And so new blends are coming out all the time. Whatever's newest is probably what's selling the best for these guys, so they constantly have to keep thinking up a "newest".

I received a free sample of Gaslight in a recent order and it was good enough to make me buy more. It's a delicious looking brownie of a plug. Beautiful. Tin note is deep and rich with notes of dried fruit. It's not a lat-bomb--the Virginia and oriental/Turkish have a chance to shine, too.

Still, it's not interesting or different enough to merit a re-order. I will enjoy my time with this and move on to something still newer.

LOL.

Or maybe I will do something nuts and order a big ol' batch of my favorite, Presby, and stop fooling around in this over-saturated marketplace once and for all.

Gaslight is a newly offered Balkan style plug form tobacco, that is created by means of 200 year old time proven, traditional means resulting in a unique, superior product, which, if smoldered slowly, one may experience the fine complexities of cool, rich incense like flavors that are melded together in a refined, smooth, superior product. This tobacco improves all the way down the bowl. The pressed plug, formed with the addition of heat and steam and pressure, does some wonderful things to the leaf. It first homogenizes the plug, imparts smoothness(converts any remaining starches into natural sugars) and the essential natural oils of the leaf intermingle and marry (speeding up the aging process) and finally the pressure and steam takes out the harshness of component leaves to form a plug with a reduced nicotine delivery. This should age very well in your tobacco cellar. Well Done, Mr. Greg Pease! Please send your comments to ericwhitaker96@gmail.com

I am smoking through a sample a friend gave me. I am on the third bowl in a Savinelli bent pot.

I sliced it as thin as I could with a sharp knife and rubbed it out. The tobacco is dark and fragrant. The flavor is a remarkably good combination of latakia and oriental tobaccos with a solid foundation of dark sweet Virginia.

You are thinking this sounds tasty, but my description does not do it justice. The blend is well balanced. It has a significant oriental signature with an omnipresent latakia there too, and it really satisfies. It is heavy and dark, sweet and spicy, smokey and savory.

I am not by nature a "flavor bomb" kind of guy, and this manages to push the edge for me without crossing it. I am liking this blend a lot and highly recommend it. I may have accidentally matched it with a pipe "made" for it, but I am going to suggest a wide bowl to really bring the flavors out.

These little bars are dark in the tin. I wanted to eat them. Also kudos for the cool tin art. Probably my favorite since the Scandal.

This slices pretty easily and crumbles even easier. I chose to do mostly 3/16 slices and rub them out well. As long as I was smoking this size in a broader bowl, it seemed to burn well. I'll probably try thinner slices next tin I crack a tin, which may burn better in bowls of all sizes. A light hand seems to work well here, as in don't pack it down at all. A gravity feed with a little tapping on the side of the pipe for settling seems to do just fine.

The nose is musty and earthy, and at lightup there is a great deal of woody smokiness, but as things progress, it seems to me that the spicier notes start to come out. This is not a latakia bomb, though there is a good deal of latakia here. It's got good balance between smoke and spice. Rumor has it that there is a minuscule percentage of perique in here, too. Pease seems to like to slip a condiment tobacco into blends, as he does with latakia in Laurel Heights and Fillmore. In all cases, I suspect it's more of a notice it if it weren't there sort of thing. Or perhaps it contributes to the somewhat elevated nicotine level, at least compared to others in this style.

It's interesting how latakia can take on a sweetness if it's surrounded by sweeter tobaccos, and a drier, probably more complex character if surrounded by lots of orientals.

That really gets at the crux of it: I'm smoking Quiet Nights now just after finishing a tin of Gaslight, and Quiet Night feels like it has more latakia, but also feels less full, somehow. It's stretched out over a broader frequency band, if you will. Gaslight seems sort of concentrated in the lower parts of the ensemble, with some little bits of spiciness reaching higher up from time to time. It's very oriental-forward, in a way that makes me think of a darker shade of Penzance, though it's been a while since I smoked that.

It burns very, very slowly, so plan ahead if you want to smoke a big bowl of it. In a group 6 size pipe, I smoked for over 2 hours. Group 3 sized pipes were pushing an hour.

This GLP offering is nicely presented and I found it to be very easy to prepare. The blocks are moist and require some dry time once sliced, but I do enjoy working with pressed tobacco cakes.

At charring light the smoke is delicate and creamy and the tone is full of warmth. There are some wonderfully complex and exotic flavors right from the start, all of which are centered around a semi-sweet round bottom note hinting at a deep roasted espresso-like flavor. The latakia is tempered to the point of being obscured and there's very little of the pine pitch flavor so prominent in most latakia heavy blends. Gaslight is also the very epitome of smooth.

By mid-bowl the flavors build up nicely and an almost overwhelming bright leathery flavor develops. The spiciness that I expect from most GLP mixtures also makes an appearance, and it's probably the most compelling aspect of the blend. The spiciness is somewhat unique and affects my whole palate and not just my tongue. By this point the tobacco flavor is what I would categorize as strong yet enjoyable but with an assertive burnt/bitter quality to it. The flavors are still well balanced and the smoke remains silky smooth.

Past mid-bowl, things fall apart a bit. With a hearty burley-like flavor, bitterness begins to reign leaving my palate feeling quite dry. Perhaps this is the product of some really intense Turkish leaf? Either way, the end bowl flavor is not exactly what I would categorize as desirable and I am hoping this will mellow with age.

Both tobacco flavor and nicotine strength are a firm medium with nicotine pushing medium-strong. I do like this blend, I think it's good. I have socked a few tins away and look forward to seeing how it tastes in the future.

Well crafted moist tobacco. Great tin note. Benefits from about 20-30 minutes drying time. Right off the initial light you can tell this is a full body English. Great flavor, gets a little bitter towards the end of the bowl especially if puffed too hard. Pack loosely.

A wonderful, balanced English tobacco. Tin aroma and full taste reminds me of burley enough that it seems like theres a tiny bit present (but I'm probably wrong) -- tin aroma is deep and bready, almost with latakia in the background, hint of chocolate to my nose. But this smokes amazing and deep, rewarding, a very different English smoke from many others I know. Most have their differences, but this tastes quite different from anything fairly "typical". Perhaps it's the perfect balance of the latakia, red virginia and orientals… but something sets this blend apart a bit in my experience. Having smoked only something like 10 bowls, it has already become probably one of my top 5 smokes. And, as with all gl pease that I have tried, the quality of the tobacco and lack of chemical casings is obvious. An excellent, full bodied but smooth mixture, worth your try if you enjoy English. One note is beware of tamping or packing too much/tight. This blend really can use some dry time, and even with a light packing, tamping just a little too hard while smoking can make it pack down too tight.

When I heard that Greg Pease’s newest blend was going to be a Latakia cake (or kake if you prefer) type blend, my first thought was how far can you go with that genre? My first thoughts were of Pirate Kake or Ten Russians or some of the other Hermit blends. Maybe he could add some sweetness like found in Plum Pudding, but a heavy Latakia cake has always seemed to have its limits for me. My tin of Gaslight was just under two months old when I cracked it and I knew right away that this was going to be something different. The appearance was similar to other Latakia forward cakes, but the smell was different. It did smell smoky, but not like the usual campfire smell as Gaslight had some tanginess to it too. It kind of reminded me of a smoky BBQ sauce. The cake came apart with ease and right away I could see some larger pieces of the supporting tobaccos. I like tobacco on the dry side so I left it a little chunky to avoid the possibility of it turning to dusk when dried. In the pipe, there is no doubt that this is a Latakia blend, but it is so much more. In searching for the right adjectives, the word “softer” immediately came to mind. This blend IMHO is softer, smoother and more well rounded than the other blends mentioned, (even though I like those blends too). There is a lot of Latakia, but it doesn’t drown out the other tobaccos. There are a lot of flavors here and I find this to be on the more complex side of the spectrum, something that I can’t recall thinking about other Latakia cakes. It may have already been mentioned, but there is an incense quality to this smoke. Gaslight doesn’t get bitter toward the bottom of the bowl, although there are hints of bitter (in a good way) throughout the smoke. I really think that Gaslight will be a great blend to cellar too.

I have never put much stock in the name of a blend, but Gaslight….it’s everything the name implies.

I really wanted to love this tobacco. The scent upon opening the tin was fantastic. Quite natural, with no flavoring to get in the way. Upon lighting, the first few minutes were outstanding. So far, so good. But, in the end, this tobacco really came on too strong (even for me, who usually likes a good, strong blend). There is just something in this blend that really bothered my stomach. I've had this happen before with Jackknife Plug. I'm sure it's just me and many, many smokers will find this a great blend.

I have to start this review with a short discourse on cigars. Nearly all cigars have what's called a "sweet spot". This is the point where all the various flavors and nuances meld together to create one wonderful flavor. That "sweet spot" may comprise no more than an inch or two of a seven inch cigar, but smokers will dutifully smoke through those inches just to reach it, usually half or three quarters of the way down. It's what they strive for. After a great deal of experimentation a cigar called the NUB was developed to be "sweet spot" from beginning to end. They were mostly successful. Now on to the review. Let me start by saying my favorite blends are English/Balkan blends. In particular those wherein the components meld together to create that "sweet spot" in the bowl, usually at around the 3/4 mark. Imagine my surprise shortly after lighting to realize that the components were already melded into one delicious flavor. How Pease achieved this I can't fathom. This blend is "sweet spot" from beginning to end. It's the NUB of pipe tobaccos. Simply amazing. All the usual notes of an English/Balkan are present; hardwood smoke, sweetness, sourness, saltiness, spiciness. All combined into one great flavor. The only difference between the top of the bowl and bottom was that it gained more depth and richness. This blend is stunningly good. If you don't try it you're cheating yourself.

UPDATE: 12/11/13 Now I see how he did it. This description is from Pease's Stonehenge. "Once blended, the leaf was steamed, hot-pressed into blocks, and aged, to allow the flavors to meld and marry." I've only been around pipe tobaccos for about a year and a half. Still learning.

Have heard a lot of this leaf before having finally getting a few tins. I was very much inspired by having had a 15 year old tin of Winter's Tale by Friedman and Pease. Up to this point the very finest tobacco I've ever had. The tin note of Gaslight is to me very intoxicating in a subtle way. The theme of promises to come is what this tobacco is all about. It is indeed like a fine wine. There are a symphony of notes that are soft upon first light and build upon each other as the bowl progresses. I'll vouch for all that other reviewers have said about the flavors and also that there is a nice buttery caramel in there as well. The kicker for me is a certain floral tickle to my taste buds that darts in and out unexpectedly. What wonderful fun. I seem to enjoy this smoke most in my oil cured pipes as they present the flavors more strongly. The last third of the bowl is excellent and puts me in a very nice place. Old Nic is a bit on the strong side for me with this one but only a bit. About 20-30 minutes of drying time makes this a great smoke in my opinion. I can't wait to savor this with some age on it. I would say that as a new blend it's very satisfactory and time will simply make it outstanding. We shall see.

I've only had one bowl, so this isn't a true review, per se. I just want to say that out of all the blends I've enjoyed Gaslight is the first to truly have that "beef jerky" smell out of the tin. I smoked this out of a cheap Rossi I bought that just wasn't working as a Virginia pipe and was blown away. I haven't smoked much Latakia/Oriental blends lately, but Gaslight has let me remember why I enjoy the diversity of flavors pipe tobacco can offer. Once I go through a couple of tins I'll update. As of now I would recommend this blend.

The dark and pungent plugs have a strong smell of Latakia. I prefer to put chunks in my pipe, light it and smoke. A long, cool smoke that is very demanding on the taste buds. Earthy, creosote like flavors assail your palate, creating only one idea...I want some more. Sometimes a nutty, Kentucky like flavor is felt in the smoke and then we are back to a very full bodied Latakia mixture. It's not a "Balkan", the Orientals are not subtle or dominating but a strong English in the vein of Dunhill's Nightcap. A fall and wintertime smoke, that could actually be enjoyed after a hearty lunch as it's all about powerful flavors and not a nicotine bomb.

At last I can try this GLPease blend! Greg is my favourite blender, and I seriously think that Caravan, Odyssey, Blackpoint, Abingdon, Maltese Falcon, Lagonda and especially Westminster are absolute masterpieces and at the absolute top as far as Latakia mixtures are concerned.

This one differs... if only for the presentation. Two square blocks, compact but still easy to slice or crumble. Yes, I tried it both sliced against the grain (as suggested) or crumbled.

This is a really powerful tobacco, don't approach it if you don't like Latakia or can't tolerate strength. It probably is the strongest Latakia blend after Nightcap in my experience (though much more tolerable than the clumsy and heavy handed Nightcap of recent years).

Packing is easy, just don't press it too much. It takes fire like a beauty, and smokes regularly from start to finish. Flavour-wise it is very constant and low-maintenance, thanks to its regular combustion and cool smoking qualities.

Big on Latakia, but soooo much different from other GLPease blends. This one tastes much more like some Cornell & Diehl's crumble cakes, and it reminds me a bit of Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend too (but luckily with more elegance). Why is that so? Because of a yeasty/nutty/earthy/cigar-like quality. No Burley or Kentucky are listed among the ingredients... and yet, I would swear there is at least a hint of them... or maybe it's just the processing?

Anyway, it is a very sturdy smoking experience from start to finish. Sturdy in mouthfeel, sturdy in nicotine. Do I like it? Sure I do... but I also feel it's a bit too much for my taste. My benchmarks are Caravan and Westminster, where the Oriental fragrance and subtlety are not drowned by the intensity. Here all "goes to 11", and at times it may be a but too intense. Maybe it will become gentler with time, but on rather fresh tin the Latakia and the earthy notes are overpowering, covering the Orientals and the Virginia sweetness. Still very fun and enjoyable (at least until the nicotine hits, so this might be recommended on a small bowl only), but not the best Greg has ever done. Don't misunderstand me: it's one of his greatest achievements, and he managed to do something different from all of his other blends, a really unique tobacco. But to love it you really have to crave for strong experiences. Me, I still prefer something a little less intense, although I will certainly keep some Gaslight around for occasional enjoyment: it's a great blend, but simply I can't see myself smoking 4 tins of this per months as I do with Greg's other Latakia offerings... just 1 per month will do!

I actually received a free sample of this tobacco in an order from Smokingpipes.com. I am a newbie smoker and I was leery of English Blends I really dislike their tin notes. I can say this was no different. It has a smokey/perfume/soap smell to me. I cut three 3/32" slices across the grain on the end of the plug, rubbed it out fully and let it dry slightly. My moisture meter said it was at about 11% moisture (I find it a great tool for a newbie pipe smoker). I packed the pipe, made a false light with a light tamp and lit the tobacco. It lit easily and burned well to the bottom of the bowl with a relight at about the 3/4 mark. The flavor is not as smokey/perfume as Lane Ltd. Crown Achievement, it still had the soapy flavor, but it was not as spicy as the Crown Achievement. The corncob lent a bit of sweetness to it as it burned, which was welcomed by me. I can confidently say I still dislike Latakia/English blends (again, a personal preference). I would imagine people that enjoy Latakia/English Blends would enjoy this tobacco, kind of like people that enjoy Lowland Scotch Whiskey-(I do not). It tastes/smokes just like the tin note. If you like the tin note, I'm sure you will enjoy the smoke.

Smooth, cool smoking, and complex. Goes great with a cup of Earl Grey tea. The complexity and depth get more profound the further you smoke - without any harshness. Has an earthy, slight floral funkiness that is intoxicating. Great processing/blending. Exhale and retrohale deliver great spice/pepper notes. The dynamic nature of the blending is reminiscent of a perfectly balanced cigar, where wrapper, binding and filler are in perfect harmony. 3/4 packed, medium bowled Savinelli lasted a full hour. Burned clean. Job very well done!

this is probably the most balanced latakia blend i have ever tried! after cutting some of the plug and crumbling it in my hand (it crumbles easerly with very little handling), i lit up my pipe and got a very hearty earthy flavour from the latakia and orientals, and the deeper into the bowl i went the more i could taste the sweetness on the VA, though like some before me has said this blend has some hints of burley in its flavours. I really like this rich and flavourfull blend and would strongly reccomend it for everyone who likes a good englishstyle blend!

Gsslight is a very interesting blend. It took me some time to get used to, but once I did, it was heaven in a plug. It is not a Kake. It is a Plug, but more of a Krumble Plug. you have to slice it properly as you would a normal hard plug, even though there is a temptation to pinch off a chunk. Pease recommends you slice it across grain to get an even distribution of blends. It is a very Latakia rich Balkan blend. A very rich blend in general. If you like woodsy, smoky, rich, slightly spicy blends, go for it. It is a pleasure to prepare and even more of a pleasure to smoke. Nicotine is medium to strong. Not overwhelming to me, and I am fairly sensitive. Overall. This has became one of my favorite stronger Latakia blends. It behaves well in all of my briars and cobs, but I do recommend you rub it out and let it sit for 20 or 30 min prior to loading. This blend makes me happy.

Heard too many good things about Gaslight, inclusive of smokers who have placed it in his top ten. I thought I would love this mix because I love the Latakia. The first thing I found was a strong hand last taste of burley happened completely. My tongue swelled immediately. The note of the can is whiskey and that's your taste when smoked. Has a strong earthy, very specious and rubbery taste. It is rather a puro cigar. To be a mix based Latakia is very high your nicotine. to taste the colors. With this composition I find such lovely tobacco Hearth & Home - Larry's Blend

this just didn't do it for me. i like latakia in proportion, but this just seemed to heavily bent toward it. i also did not like the cut once rubbed out, it was too chunky for my taste. i went to it with an expectation of something a little bit sweeter than it was, however the virginia did not seem to add in that area. it rates 3 stars for me simply because as i consider it, i must admit that it delivers just as it claims to, it will appeal to many on that bases, i received it as a sample and would never have purchased it based upon it's claims.

Love this tobacco. Rich, sweet, dark, smokey, serious. This is for those times you want a steady smoke that is consistent throughout. Comes in a cut plug type format - break off pieces and break those pieces up a little more. Burns nicely. I can feel more nicotine in this blend than some other English blends I smoke. Perfect to smoke on a rainy cloudy afternoon. This is a really well balanced blend.

Gaslight is a very stout, strong, full bodied plug. It was a little challenging cutting this up to the size I wanted, but a good thin blade solved that problem. This one really was superb after a good meal in the evening time, but if you have a robust constitution then try this anytime. This smelled amazing in the tin...a sweet, smoky aroma...delicious. In the bowl this lit well and burned down with few relights. The smoke was thick and fragrant, perfumed with latakia and Orientals leading the way. This is another winner from GLP. OFWAIHHBTN

How to add to what's been said here? For those who like a hearty English/latakia based smoke, this is one of the premiere blends out there. Use a knife, as GLP recommends, and cut it thinly crosswise. (I treated it as a flake with the first brick and it didn't work.) I have smoked it in large bowls (Dunhill sizes 4-ODA), and that's a smoke that last for hours. It's good there, but as many others have commented, this does best in smaller bowls (Dunhill sizes 2-3).

It's a cool latakia smoke with other things going on. (Very cool. As a reference, I am major latakia guy, and this is delightfully cool.) There is a slight sweetness there but not cloying. (I can't sense or write in flowery detail.) I'll assume it's Virginias somewhere in that dark mass of bricks. Definitely an evening smoke.

It's great now, and I've stuffed several tins away for aging. Really great stuff.

This is a tobacco that is meant to be savored. Perfect for smoking on a still autumn or winters night. Although very full bodied, it is smooth with layers of flavor, leathery, smokey, salty, malty and nutty. like a fine single malt scotch. A must for Latakia lovers.

This was another half ounce sample I recieved from smokingpipes for buying other things. It came in a small ziplock baggie as a chunk of cake (It's not solid enough to be a plug in my mind) about the size of a large gaming die. I cobbed this bc I don't like to try anything too pungent in a pipe I use for mainly one blend. I was smoking it outdoors, and it was not recieved well by the ladies that were present haha.

It's smells very fragrant, not just the normal smokey leather of the Latakia. But also of perfume almost. Kind of soapy, a bit flowery under the manliness. I'm not sure it has the "essence" in it, it may just be artful blending and aging. It's pretty dark overall in color, so I would say this was left to marry for some time before it was cut. You only want to cut a small amount off at a time, as it rubs up to be decently larger than it starts out. After a bit of time to sit out, it should be fine to smoke. It is a bit oily, so drying was my preferred method along with a slightly looser packing.

It took a bit more fire to get going than I expected, but it did burn pretty well after that. On the charring light it tastes heavily of wood smoke. It does settle in after the first third and has some changing tastes to it. A bit of spicyness, a bit of the sourish oriental taste to it. Also it has a nice earthy quality that comes through here and there. It took a decent amount of fiddling with to keep it burning properly, so keep your tamp handy.

It is probably not for everyone. It is a full English blend and should be treated as such. You may want a wider bowl for it, which I think brings out the flavor a bit more than a small pipe does. It goes well with scotch I can say from experience. I liked it, but I'm not sure I would buy more however. It is probably one to be smoked outdoors depending on your living situation. (Not all of us have a man cave). It is worth trying though if you like fuller English blends that are not overpowering on nicotine. Not sure how they did that actually. I figured this one woul d be a bell ringer for certain from the smell of it.

Latakia blends are love it or hate it for me. Most of them are too weak and mild, they all taste the same and there's just an emptiness on tongue, a sort of hollow smoke feel if that makes sense.

Cue the arrival of Gaslight, G.L. Pease's masterpiece. I decided to try it because I have literally never heard a bad thing about from pipers I trust, everyones just crazy about the stuff. I've found that in pipesmoking at least, it pays to follow the crowd.

Tin note is strong and musty, the "baccy brownies" are perfectly pressed, firm, won't crumble just from small handling. It will take a sharp knife to cut this but unlike most plugs I've dealt with Gaslight is not like cutting a brick, it turns to ribbons very easily. Straight out of the tin it is perfect moisture to smoke, pack it lighter then usual and get ready.

This is some of the best tasting tobacco I've ever had; it is full, there is no hiding the tobacco behind any casing. Youll get every note in here with some slow sipping; but especially the latakia with its amazing full earthiness.

A fantastic experince. I didn't notice much nicotine, but as a warning I have a pretty high tolerance. No gurgle, smoked pretty well all to the bottom. All the hype you've heard about this blend is real, Lat lovers and haters should really give this a shot, this is just good baccy here.

I've heard a lot of good things about Gaslight and I was looking forward to trying it. Generally speaking, it's a good English blend with a leathery flavor and touch of spiciness. It also smokes very cool.

On the downside, I was thrown off a little by having to cut and rub the tobacco before packing my pipe. I tried to be mindful of the thickness of the strips and ended up with short and thin strands of tobacco that broke apart easily. The other problem I had was with the amount of ash created. Not surprisingly the ash was very fine and had a tendency to escape the pipe - this goes back to how I cut the tobacco. Also, I had to do a lot of relighting especially to get the bowl going.

If you're an experienced pipe smoker, and have used plug tobacco, you'll enjoy this blend. For someone still trying to find their way with smoking a pipe - like myself - you might have better luck with something else.

Right in the GL Pease wheelhouse! I primarily gravitate towards Virginia blends and I've come to believe Virginia's aren't Greg's strong suite, English blends on the other hand... This is what Pease was put on earth to do! The smokey character was evident from the start but it had a nice malty sweet component as well, lingering in the background. Don't let that mislead you, this is not a sweet tasting tobacco, you just sense there is sweet red Virginia under all of that velvety rich latakia. I was given a sample of this in an order from smoking pipes.com so I can't tell you about the tin note but I did get several good smokes out of the half ounce crumble cake plug they gave me. And it has a smell akin to aged leather, fireplace, and old book, and perhaps strong coffee. It is quite pleasing and it seems I get something different every time.

I like to smoke this one sitting down as it is fairly strong and my nic tolerance is minimal. Tried walking the dog with a small bowl of gaslight and I battled the swirlies for a nice half hour. So, if you're like me... Sit down and take her slow. I found the room note to be rather strong so if yore an indoor smoker you might want to crack a window or do like me and enjoy a quiet night on the deck with a pinch or two of gaslight. Wherever you partake, the flavors come at you with a nice smokey presence and push towards cigar like undertones and eventually I'm getting upfront tobacco tastes, somewhat espresso like, lingering on roasted bitterness. To me, this is a strong smoke... Big, earthy, sweetness there but not quite bold enough to pop his head. A nice English blend for sure.

Dark plug or kake with some visible lighter leaf. Tin note is typical terpene from the latakia. Smoked alongside its stablemate Pirate Kake, it differs in that virginias take the place of the burley in PK. The result is a lighter, sweeter tobacco that allows the orientals more expression. Still a very Lat forward blend however.

I am not experienced enough to say where in the spectrum of English blends this sits; it is an intriguing combination of a Lat bomb that manages to deliver a multitude of light and subtle aromas. It does go beautifully with a nice strong cup of tea.

I was gifted a 1x1x1-inch cube from a friend. It arrived with a bunch of other English blends, so the smells had sort of melded into one smoky slap across the face. Like walking into a bar as a fight was breaking out and getting caught up in the mess.

After separating the individual blends for a while this one seemed to peak my interest the most because I had never had a plug tobacco before and the smell was more than just smoky Latakia. The description may be (or was) a krumble kake, but it's a plug. It smelled like wood smoke of course but there was some sweetness poking through, so I sliced some off and packed my pipe. No waiting around for it to dry, just as is. It smoked well for me and the tiny slice filled the Pony Express I was using perfectly. To my surprise the wood smoke was not as dominant in the beginning as I would have expected but had some sweetness going on just on par with it. There is a constant of smokiness and spice though the whole smoke. In addition to that constant the flavors tend to go through three well defined stages as I smoke. First is of a cigar flavor, then to a heavy black tea (almost identical to Mississippi River) then at the end the sweetness and vitamin N kicks up a notch.

The only real negative that I could identify was that it gives me a serious case of cotton-mouth and I drink almost four glasses of water while smoking it. Might be unrelated, just thought I'd mention it anyway. The stuff can pack a big-ole vitamin-N kick, but not every time I smoke it. It would also seem that filtering it has no effect at all on the flavor or body.

A wonderful blend and I may very well purchase some of my own to see what cellaring would do to it.

On opening the tin, a modest aroma of latakia. First bowl, in a Gr4-sized briar, confirmed suspicion that tobacco [4 weeks since packing] was too moist. Airing of cut/rubbed-out flake yielded a much better, more 'expected' smoke for my fifth pipe - Latakia-aroma and 'taste' noted immediately after pipe established, with gentle spiciness [oriental(s)] building to a pleasing "plateau."

After 5-10 minutes of gentle smoking, the smoothness and coolness of this "english" blend, strong though it is, was apparent. The only other "english" or "balkan" blends currently in my rotation are much rougher, more unbalanced [Gawith Hoggarth Balkan Mixture, GH Sweet English - I've no Dunhill 965 to smoke for reference!! (Although, the 'new' 965 isn't the same as the original)]. An undefined 'taste' was noted about one-third into the bowl - could not place it - perhaps from the Virginias, pleasant, perhaps the 'mysterious' referred to in the publicity. Mme Nicotine asserts a modest presence in the latter stages of a bowl of this pleasing Gaslight blend, and the good, slow-burning characteristic of this blend and 'not-too-tight' packing of a Peterson System 302 returned me a 60 minute session of great satisfaction.

I will finish this first (2oz) tin and probably leave it until mid-winter's day [21st June 2014 - here in Australia!!] to sample another, and update my review. In the meantime, as reviewer "Former 965 Fan" has done, I think it may be appropriate to lay in a modest stock 'for later' so promising is this "young" sample I've tried!!

A rather unique presentation of a Latakia/Virginia/Orientals blend with the plug style leaf that probably could even be used as chewing tobacco (well, not really, but just going by its looks). Rich and flavorful with just a hint of alcohol - probably the natural fermentation of the leaf. It's a winner, for sure.

Wow! Big Bold and Beautiful. My only gripe is it needs to be dried quite a bit or your forever lighting it. Really nice full bodied smoke though with plenty of nicotine. I wont be throwing my tins of Penzance in the bin just yet but this certainly rivals that blend and is stronger. Greg's last 4 or 5 releases have all been really great.

I usually wait some months before I smoke any GL Pease or C & D tobaccos. But as I received a sample with my last tobacco order, I decided not to wait as the tobacco would dry out. The first thing that stricked me from Gaslight was the rich and extremely pleasant aroma of the tobacco. I must say this Latakia plug smells like nothing I have smelled before. It slices easily with a good knife and is very easy to prepare to one's liking. GL Pease and C & D's plugs are much easier to handle than those offered by other manufacturers (I'm thinking, mostly, about Peterson's 3P). I fully broke up the slices and packed the pipe. Lighting up took some time and keeping it lit proved a bit challenging at first, but things eventually settled for a nice, rich and tasty smoke. The latakia is dominant but let some room for the Orientals and, occasionally, for the Virginias. I find the nicotine content a bit high for a LA/OR/VA and wonder if there is not some DFK in Gaslight. Not very complex, the taste is surely like no other blends of this type. It burned slow without major issue and smoked dry despite being a very dark tobacco. I am glad I have a few tins in my cellar and will be looking forward to opening a full tin in the near future.

A downside is that it tends to bite; but I am putting it on the account of the fact that the leaf is still young. When i open one of my tins in a year from now or so, and if it still bites, then I will have to downgrade the score I am attributing it right now.

Not Just Another Latakia Bomb (JALB?) There is plenty of flavor at the beginning, starting strong with the spice, and then a few minutes in the smoother influence of the virginias becomes apparent. It also seems difficult to make this burn hot. Maybe it had something to do with how I prepared it, just carving off a chunk of the cake and dropping it into a Jirsa Group 3 pipe, but this smoked really cool even when I was getting a little greedy with it.

The aroma was quite pleasant, although my significant other described as cigar-like - I would not have used the same term. I'm sure it smells different smoking it. Not the kind of room note that would have total strangers asking you what's in the pipe, but not the sort that sends them fleeing either.

A while back I bought seventeen tins from an Ebay seller as a single lot and this tin was in that group. I sorted-out the tins to keep, including this one. After a couple of weeks I decided to pop it and find out what this blend was about. What I found was two bars of tobacco - very dark in color, very moist to the touch, very fragrant in a latakia/oriental kind of way and somewhat oily. This tobacco was way too moist to smoke straight away, so I let it air out for four or five days before smoking. Even after all of this airing-out, it was somewhat difficult to rub out and my fingers were stained dark and slippery when finished. I found this somewhat strange.

Upon lighting-up I was relieved to find that it smoked straight forward with a moderately heavy latakia/oriental character but very fragrantly - not perfumey, just fragrant. After three or four bowls I was satisfied that I understood this blend and put it in my micoblending lineup. Then I learned something about it. Gaslight is quite dense and I had to be careful not to overuse it in blending or it flavored the microblend too much. When it was about three-fourths consumed, I began to detect a change in it's tin aroma - a slightly rancid odor had crept into the fragrance. I attribute this to some compound used in it's preparation. All-in-all, not a bad English blend; just a strange one and not one that I will pursue or hoard.

From the tin art, to the inside packaging, to the sublime fragrance that greets you as you peel back the inside wrapping, to the kakes that look so inviting, and of course all the way to the smoke: Gaslight is a pipe smoker's dream.

I suspect that anyone trying Gaslight as their first pipe smoke might never smoke a pipe again. Or at least not Gaslight - and that would mean there would just be more for me. And though the reviews here are nearly all stellar, I know a number of people who just do not like the stuff. I think that any Latakia-forward tobacco can be a love it or leave it proposition. But here's the thing: I don't think Gaslight cares.

It's a no-nonesense Latakia-forward blend that hits all the right notes: no bite, smokes cool, great tin note, amazing smoke flavor, great smoke fragrance - it really has it all. I'm not a huge fan of Orientals as they tend to bite; yet I find that these Orientals take a back seat to the Latakia which drives and the Virginias that ride shotgun. But the Orientals add just the right zing on the back end.

The tobacco starts out a medium strength and flavor. I do find as I near the bottom third of the bowl that it darkens a bit - not necessarily stronger, but a deeper flavor, with the Orientals fading and the Latakia/Virginias becoming more pronounced.

This is not necessarily an easy tobacco to light and keep lit. I've found that I prefer to slice a reasonably thin slice from the kake, and fully rub out the tobacco. And I mean fully rub it out. Then I let it dry for around 30 minutes. I pack the bowl very loosely. If you pack a tight bowl with chunks you'll be smoking that same bowl two years from now.

This is a tobacco that is best smoked slowly. It's no big deal if you have to relight it a few times. It is the quintessential evening smoke - which I enjoy any time of day.

I won't say much because a friend gave me a small sample and that is it. But I really liked it. I found the taste very similar to SG Navy flake. Just not at the end of the bowl. There it becomes slightly different.

Edit: I had a chance to taste this blend throughly so I will add a few remarks. This is a really significant tobacco. However it depends highly on how dry you smoke it, and how you cut it. I got a tin as a gift recently and when I opened it, the tobacco was quite wet. I smoked about two bowls and I began to think, "why did I like this one before?" But not before long, experience "kicked in", and I decided to cut the tobacco instead of rubbing it, and I let it throughly dry, before I smoke it. Ahhh...A very tasty tobacco, curiously with the hint of a taste of really quality butter. Try it, if you havent already. One of the very interesting ones indeed...